02 July 2026
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The website for Le Clan, in Old Québec City, doesn’t spotlight its chef or its staff. Instead, the focus is on myriad Quebecois producers whose products shape the menu, which is just shy of being 100% local.
The bread, for instance, is prepared by local baker François Borderon using sea water from Sept-Îles, an area on the north coast of Québec province, as well as wheat from the Charlevoix region.
“Our stars here in the restaurants are the producers, the artisans, all the growers,” says Frédéric Laroche, co-owner of Le Clan. “All those people are on the walls of Le Clan because they're part of the team and they are our friends.”
When Le Clan’s chef, Stéphane Modat, needs Wagyu beef, he texts Frédéric Dupuis from Le Jardinier Palmé in Saint-Antoine-de-Tilly. Dupuis and his son drive over to deliver it themselves, then stay to catch up in the kitchen.
Wild sturgeon caviar comes from fourth-generation fisherman Jamie Duquette, who nets sturgeon one by one from Lake Saint-Louis in southwestern Québec. Appalachian truffles, which are indigenous to North America, are sourced from Jerome Quirion, a truffle grower in the Estrie region. Arctic char, smoked salmon, seal and seaweed pay homage to the fishermen of Salluit, Québec’s northernmost village.
Although Modat is originally from France, after two decades in Québec, he is deeply rooted in the region. He and Laroche travel the province extensively — they’re avid hunters and fishers themselves — often venturing far north to visit Inuit communities and learn from them.
Québec is home to 11 Indigenous communities, comprising 10 First Nations and the Inuit Nation. Modat pays tribute to these peoples, whose knowledge helped shape the region's culinary identity long before French, English and Italian influences arrived.
“They were here when the first French came. They showed the French how to survive during the winter, how to take plants and herbs to survive, and how to cook,” says Modat. “When we go to the Inuit village up north, they don't have trees, so they don't make fire. They dry the fish, they eat raw food, they ferment.”
In the kitchen of Le Clan, Moran weaves those traditions with French cuisine. One example is suvalik, a type of Inuit mayonnaise. It’s usually made with trout eggs and animal fat (typically from seals or whales). Modat’s version is prepared with trout eggs and oil. He uses suvalik as the base for deer tartare or beef tartare.
“The idea is to mix a French cuisine classic, the tartare, with that Inuit mayo, so the two cultures meet in one dish,” says Modat. “It's really cool to make the bridge between the two cultures because they're connected, but a lot of people know nothing about that, because it's been forgotten.”
The aim is not to borrow traditions but to honor and acknowledge them.
“We don't appropriate the technique, we showcase the place where it's from, we name the people who taught us how to do that,” explains Laroche. “Chef puts [the tartare] on the menu because it's totally amazing to see that they have almost the same product as a classic mayo from Europe but using their products.”
The menu at Le Clan changes quite often due to the ephemeral nature of the ingredients. Yet both Laroche and Modat insist that Québec’s vast size — it’s over 640,000 square miles —and varied landscapes offer no shortage of inspiration.
“Québec has its place on the gastronomic map. We have a huge climate, we are [like] a Nordic country, we have a lot of products, we have the First Nations and Inuit, andwe have different influences from Europe,” says Laroche.
Modat thrives on the challenge.
“We adapt the menu every day,” he says. “It's a constant brainstorm about what I propose to the guests. My brain is running 24/7. It's crazy. I love that.”
Editor’s Note: Le Clan earned its first MICHELIN Star in May 2026.
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Hero image: Dessert based on Quebec Route 138. © Frédéric Laroche/Le Clan
Thumb image: Mohawk Plate © Frédéric Laroche/Le Clan
